Two men charged in Mundelein, Waukegan burglaries
Two Lake County men are facing charges after they were caught burglarizing a house in Mundelein, police announced Thursday.
The suspects have been charged with several burglaries in Waukegan, too, authorities said.
The men were arrested Monday morning after a Mundelein resident spotted a suspicious vehicle outside a house in the 200 block of North Pershing Avenue, Police Chief Eric Guenther said. The neighbor then saw the men knock on the front door of the house and walk into the backyard, Guenther said.
“When our guys caught them in the act, they were carrying a big-screen TV,” Guenther said.
Both men admitted to two other burglaries in town after their arrests, Guenther said.
Charged with three counts of residential burglary were: Jose M. Periera-Cerna, 22, of the 1200 block of Victoria Avenue in North Chicago; and Jose L. Macedonio-Alvarez, 20, of the 200 block of North County Street, Waukegan.
Additionally, Periera-Cerna was charged with eight counts of residential burglary stemming from thefts in Waukegan, police there said. Macedonio-Alvarez was charged with six counts of residential burglary in the Waukegan cases.
The green Mazda spotted by the neighbor matched the description of a car used in a May 17 residential burglary on the 200 block of North Ridgemoor Avenue in Mundelein, police said.
Searches of the suspects’ homes turned up property stolen from that earlier burglary, as well as another on the 500 block of North Pershing Avenue that occurred the same day, Guenther said.
Televisions, computers, jewelry, clothing, power tools and other items have been recovered. Some of the property has been identified by the burglary victims, Guenther said.
Subsequent interviews led to the charges in Waukegan. The suspects also admitted they committed burglaries in an unincorporated area near Mundelein and in Vernon Hills, authorities said.
Charges are pending from the Vernon Hills police and Lake County sheriff’s police departments, too, officials said.
Periera-Cerna and Macedonio-Alvarez were held in the Lake County jail after bail was set for both men at $250,000.